Boone officials say heater replaced without permit

AP

Published: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 7:44 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 7:44 a.m.

BOONE (AP) — A Boone inspector says a hotel pool heater that leaked carbon monoxide and killed a Washington state couple and later a South Carolina boy was installed without the knowledge of the town's inspection department.

Todd Miller with the Boone Planning and Inspections Department says the Best Western Blue Ridge Plaza never told the city about the new heater. Miller says the hotel did not apply for a required permit for the change.

Officials say carbon monoxide poisoning killed 73-year-old Daryl Jenkins and 72-year-old Shirley Jenkins of Longview, Wash., on April 16. They were staying in a room directly over the pool's maintenance room.

Eleven-year-old Jeffrey Lee Williams of Rock Hill, S.C., died in the same room June 8.

An attorney for the hotel did not respond to a message.

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